Work measurement is the application of techniques designed to establish the time for an average worker to carry out a specified manufacturing

Manufacturing

Manufacturing is the use of machines, tools and labor to produce goods for use or sale. The term may refer to a range of human activity, from handicraft to high tech, but is most commonly applied to industrial production, in which raw materials are transformed into finished goods on a large scale...

 task at a defined level of performance. It is concerned with the length of time it takes to complete a work task assigned to a specific job.

Usage

Work measurement helps to uncover non-standardization that exist in the workplace and non-value adding activities and waste. A work has to be measured for the following reasons:

1. To discover and eliminate lost or ineffective time.
2. To establish standard times for performance measurement.
3. To measure performance against realistic expectations.
4. To set operating goals and objectives.

Techniques of Work Measurement

• time study
• Predetermined motion time systems
  Predetermined motion time system
  A predetermined motion time system is frequently used to set labor rates in industry by quantifying the amount of time required to perform specific tasks. The first such system is known as Methods-time measurement, released in 1948 and today existing in several variations, commonly known as...
  
  
• Standard Data
• Work sampling
  Work sampling
  Work Sampling is the statistical technique for determining the proportion of time spent by workers in various defined categories of activity...
  
  

Uses of Work Measurement

• To compare the efficiency of alternative methods. Other conditions being equal, the method which takes the least time will be the best method.
• To balance the work of members of teams, in association with the multiple activity charts, so that, as far as possible, each member has tasks taking an equal time.
• To determine, in association with man and machine multiple activity charts, the number of machines an worker can run.